House of Pain [PA]

Performer: House of Pain
Engineer: Pete Rock; Steve Marker; Jason Roberts; Butch Vig
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: Personnel includes: Everlast, Danny Boy O'Connor (vocals); D.J. Lethal (scratches). Producers include: D.J. Lethal, D.J. Muggs, Ralph Tha Funky Mexican. Personnel: Everlast, Danny Boy O'Connor, Son Doobie (vocals); Steve Marker (guitar). Audio Mixers: Muggs; Jason Roberts . Recording information: Ameraycan Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Image Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA. Photographer: Michael Miller . Unknown Contributor Roles: Ralph Tha Funky Mexican; Son Doobie; Bob & Earl. With their brawling take on golden-age hip-hop (the drunken yang to Cypress Hill's blissed-out yin?), proud-to-be-Irish-American trio House of Pain could easily have been a tired clich�. However, with acrobatic, learned lyrics and dexterous beats farmed from bop, blues, and deep funk, the L.A. band of Everlast, Danny Boy, and DJ Lethal turned out to transcend predictability. While best known for "Jump Around," the frenetic sing-a-long that surprised even the band itself by becoming a #3 pop hit, the threesome's 1992 debut offers a vast array of styles ranging from the sly, hazy "Shamrocks & Shenanegans" to the sinister "House of Pain Anthem" to the sweetly lively "Top O' The Morning To Ya."

Rolling Stone (10/29/92, p.70) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...With a groovy swagger, this collection of hard-core hip-hop tracks offers many moments of technicolor snap and crackle..." Q (12/92, p.124) - 3 Stars - Good - "...their music is of the dense, hard-hitting school of hip hop...the group have absorbed black rap's musical lessons and create a satisfying platform for their above average deliveries..." The Source (9/92, p.57) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...a very solid and at times exceptional album...imagine if LICENCED TO ILL wasn't an upper middle class Jewish thing but rather a working class Irish thang...the atmosphere is like that of a cross between a frat party and a bar room brawl..." NME (Magazine) (11/7/92, p.34) - 6 - Good - "...contains some creative and accomplished rap music..."

Los Angeles-based rap group House of Pain scored a huge cross-over smash with the rambunctious 1992 single "Jump Around." Led by Ice-T protege Everlast, the all-white ensemble created a unique image that was part L.A. street-tough, part Irish hooligan. Though the group never matched the success of "Jump Around," they played an important part in breaking down the barrier between hardcore rap and loud-and-heavy rock (in fact, DJ Lethal would later join Limp Bizkit). Shortly after the group broke up in 1996, Everlast began an unlikely but successful solo career as a hip-hop tinged blues troubadour. All three original members reformed as Lo Coka Nostra in the early 2000s.

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